HT Tournaments Beta Information

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Over the last three years, we have been talking about 5.0, the new skin, and the tournament system. We are pleased to announce that, soon, we will be releasing a preview of what's to come in our much anticipated update: HT Tournaments. Additionally, we will actually be opening a live beta for all our users, here, on HT 4.1! The HT Tournament system has been redesigned from the ground, up to provide the best experience possible across the a variety of gametypes, squads, maps, and just about anything else you can think of. We wanted a system that can be used and updated with ease, to stay up to date with the community and its creativity. Over the years, this community has been very creative in making some of the best gametypes with minimal changes. We have seen RaceTracks, DemoTracks, Hardcore, and a plethora of gametypes all originating from Halo 3's VIP mode. So now that we have more gametypes, more settings, and more options, we know you will put our system to the ultimate test. So let's go over exactly what all will be possible in version 1 of the beta.

Squads

One of the things we wanted to focus on is squads. Squads tend to be most active type of tournaments, at the moment. So, we wanted to give each squad it's own little place in the tournament system. Squads have their own set of tournaments, which can only be created by squad leaders. Not even site administrators or moderators can post tournaments in your squad. With that being said, here are some of the features we have included for squads.

Statistics

Each squad will actually have its own leaderboards, stats, and tournament category to ensure we satisfy the needs of each squad. What does this mean? Let's use the Dirty Racing League as an example. They require a vastly different set of leaderboards than HT Suppercross, Hardcore, Demo, or Battletracks. The DRL leaderboards will have the ability to have Dirtiest Racer in their leaderboard, while not effecting Demo's leaderboards that would have Racer Wins and Blocker Wins. As I have said before we wanted a system that everyone could use and track leaderboards for. So when you create a tournament (for now) just shoot an admin a message with what stats you want for your squad.

Seasons

Another thing that seemed important to us are seasons. Every squad has seasons. It's a vital part of squads and should not be ignored. So, I am pleased to announce that seasons are now a part of the tournament system. Each squad has it's own set of seasons which actually has it's own set of leaderboards.

HT Skill

This is our HT Tournaments skill system. We'll touch base on the specifics of HT Skill at a later time. Each squad will have a separate HT Skill rating. When done this way, your rank can actually show your HT Skill for that squad. If someone has a high skill rating in Demo, that doesn't necessarily mean that he or she should have a high skill rating in something like Supercross. HT Skill truly gives you guys the best skill grade, possible!

HT Ranks

Alongside our numeric HT Skill progression, we've included a rank system as well. Imagine it working like Halo 3, in that, you gain a certain amount of EXP per race depending on how you finish. This exp, along with your HT Skill for the majority of these, will provide you with a titled rank. Our ranking system is split into two parts:

Vanilla and Champions.

The Vanilla ranks are a near-spitting image of Halo 3's structure. We've added a huge twist to that, though. Beyond the first set of ranks lies the proving ground of Champions. These ranks function very differently. The most important aspect is that these are the only ranks that you can actually lose. The reason behind this is that, unlike the Vanilla ranks which require you to hit a one-time minimum of 'X', the Champions rank set mandates that you maintain values. These two values are maintaining a minimum HT Skill and a minimum win percentage. If any of the minimum prerequisites aren't met, you lose that rank. Don't worry, you won't lose your Firebolt. Again, Vanilla ranks cannot be lost.

Champions was added in to really test your skill and we look forward to seeing these in action!

Tournament Levels

Each tournament will have a tournament level, which is used to classify the difficulty of each tournament. The higher the tournament level, the higher the hosting and participation fees are. Why pay more HT Points just to run or participate in a tournament. though? The answer is simple: Higher tournament levels also mean higher rewards. Performing well in higher levels will grant you more HT Points and EXP, which are both crucial towards progressing your racing career.

Tournament levels are split into categories. Different categories gift different amounts of EXP. Additionally, the Hardcore category is the only one that presents to chance to lose points. The potential gains are highest in this category, but you'll need to race with your best tire forward. Any tournament level in the Official category can only be created by HaloTracks Administrators, and these tournaments offer the biggest gains out of any category. You'll definitely want to attend these!

HT Skill

HT Skill is actually a version of the Halo 2 ranking system. Each user has "points" that can either be gained or lost, which is determined by who you beat or are beaten by in a tournament. Each rank has a point value that is required to be at that rank. Once you reach that amount of points, you finally earn that rank. If you lose point, however you run the risk of ranking down. HT Skill is the most important part of the HT Tournaments. It is what shows the true skill of that racer. As stated before, any squad has it's own HT Skill. Here is what the Halo 2 system is. Keep in mind that we will be tweaking this to better fit the needs of our system. This image is just to give you an idea of what things will be like.

This is just a small taste of what HT Tournaments has to offer. Our system is being tailor made to suit the racing needs for our community. We have pages upon pages of features that won't be seen in early versions of the system. How expansive and insane HT Tournaments can be is limited only by our imaginations. We aren't building this like a game, where the system will be effectively redundant in 2-4 years. We're building this to last years upon years of Halo. We want to challenge you, but we also want to make sure that the chance to succeed is always there should you possess the skills to achieve it.

Along the way, we humbly ask you to remember that this is just a beta. HT Tournaments has yet to be extensively tested. With that, assume that things will break or just not work they way they should. The information you provide us about the beta will help make the official release in HT 5.0 the best it can possibly be. We are committed to getting this system dialed, so that this community can have the best experience possible for years to come.

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The Beta is now live and ready for testing. What you will be experiencing is this system in its infancy. Things will look and act clunky, and might not even work at all. Please don't let that deter you from using it. This system is the future of HaloTracks and has nowhere to go but up. Your feedback is always appreciated!

Submit any bugs, requests, or critiques of HT Tournaments in this forum.